COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Getting started with vacation rentals in the Town of Lyons

by Amy Reinholds

Last fall, the Lyons Board of Trustees unanimously approved an ordinance that lets homeowners rent out rooms to vacationers in the homes where they live. This Thursday, March 29, at 5:30 p.m., at Lyons Town Hall, Town Planner Paul Glasgow will give a basics overview of how the licensing process works for vacation hosts in Lyons.

According to the email announcement, the Town of Lyons short-term rental licensing application period is from April 1 to April 30, with enforcement beginning May 2018. Glasgow and town staff are inviting any homeowners who want to operate short-term vacation rentals to join the evening’s “Basics of Short-term Rentals” event, to understand the licensing process and get questions answered. [For results of this meeting, see Update on vacation rentals in Town of Lyons residential zones]

In 2017, short-term vacation rentals (renting to guests for shorter time periods than a month-to-month lease) were not permitted by right on residential zoned land (neighborhoods where most of us live). Before this new town ordinance went into effect January 1, to legally rent out rooms as short-term vacation rentals in residential (R-1 or R-2) zones in Lyons, homeowners were required to complete a longer process to apply to run a Bed & Breakfast business, with several steps and public hearings before the Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) and the trustees. (On A1, A2, and Estate zoned land, Bed & Breakfast businesses with six or fewer units are allowed as a use by right, if the homeowners have a business license and the rented units are in the main house. Lodging is also allowed in commercial zoned land, including the CEC zone).

Now the legal process for R-1 and R-2 zoned land is much shorter, with short-term rentals allowed as a use by right instead of the longer conditional use process for a Bed & Breakfast business. However, homeowners are required to get a short-term vacation rental business license, to comply with safety-based requirements such as certifying they have smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers, and to acknowledge that the Lyons Fire Protection District may require an inspection.

You could call this my “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” column. I read about communities with unmanaged short-term vacation rentals that dealt with a new problem of fewer longer-term rentals that local employees can afford, and I was concerned in the past few years about short-term vacation rentals in the Town of Lyons. I spoke at both PCDC and trustees meetings advising against policies that would cause spaces previously rented to local employees to turn into vacation lodging instead, removing housing stock in an already high-demand rental market. However, I will be attending the Thursday night meeting, not just to cover it for my column, but because I’m interested in how to become a legal vacation rental host in the Town of Lyons. Two weeks ago, my husband and I moved to a house that is zoned R-2 and has a suite in the basement that was used by the previous owners’ children. We are considering using it as a short-term rental, trying out renting the downstairs in our home. I support getting a short-term rental license and following the Town of Lyons ordinance, because we won’t be taking away a space used as a long-term rental. I’m looking forward to learning the details about how to have a short-term rental that complies with the Town of Lyons ordinance.

The PCDC worked with Town of Lyons planning staff on the changes to town code for more than a year, including gathering input from vacation rental hosts. After hearing public comments at an August public hearing, the PCDC voted to recommend that the trustees add and amend town code to allow some short-term vacation rental use by right. In September 2017, the trustees agreed, with additional changes to the final ordinance that was approved.

For homeowners to obtain the required license from the Town of Lyons, short-term rentals must meet the following standards:

The proposed short-term rental must be the principal residence of the homeowner, and the homeowner must occupy the premise of the short-term rental for at least nine months per calendar year.

The homeowner must self-certify that design and safety standards are met.

The homeowner must obtain a Colorado sales tax license and collect, report, and pay sales tax (or a contract from a third-party agency like AirBnb or VRBO to collect, report, and pay sales tax on the homeowner’s behalf).
Also, if ballot question 1A passes, it includes a Town of Lyons $2 per night occupation tax for lodging, like many other municipalities have (but lower). I support this added tax, as a possible vacation rental host, and I encourage Lyons voters to vote yes on ballot question 1A in our April 3 election. It will raise the costs that a vacationer pays by a small amount (lower than other places I’ve stayed on AirBnb), and it will help our town cover the added impacts of tourists, so our town doesn’t have to take money away from the what we need to cover the services for all of our year-round residents. [Update 4/4/2018: This short-term rental tax passed 496 to 177 ]

The homeowner must submit the required application form, safety certification form, and associated fees. According to the Town of Lyons website, applicants must submit a Lyons STR License Application form, along with the $100 license fee, and a $75 new application fee. Following the short-term rental’s first licensed year, the renewal application fee will be $50.

Submitted short-term rental license applications will be reviewed for compliance, in accordance with the Lyons Municipal Code, and a decision on the application’s approval will be made within 45 days, according to the Town of Lyons website. More information is available atwww.townoflyons.com/ShortTermRentals, and at this the March 29 meeting at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall.

These changes apply only to short-term vacation rentals in the Town of Lyons. People who own homes outside Lyons town limits are subject to the specific regulations for their county (Boulder or Larimer). Even within town limits, it’s important to know that some homeowners associations and deed-restricted affordable housing have more restrictive rules than Town of Lyons ordinances.

I recently looked back at a column I wrote in August of last year atTop 3 things you can do to support affordable housingwhere I encouraged homeowners to be landlords and rent to employees of local businesses. My husband and I are doing that with our original house in town. Instead of selling it, we are renting to an employee of a business in the Town of Lyons who is not yet able to afford to buy a home in Lyons. I would love to see future Town of Lyons meetings, like the one Thursday night for short-term rentals, to share advice and information with landlords and promote more long-term rentals in town.

The solution to the affordable housing problem is not just to have more market-rate rentals. We need subsidized rentals that are permanently limited to be only at thirty percent of incomes of people who work service jobs in Lyons. My columns cover a variety of options for affordable housing for all members of our community, not just those of us who have the ability and the finances to purchase homes in Lyons.

This column is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing after the September 2013 flood disaster in Lyons. The Town of Lyons lost about seventy-six to ninety-four flood-destroyed homes, and a 2015 proposal for using part of Bohn Park to build subsidized, affordable Boulder County Housing Authority rentals and some Habitat for Humanity for-sale affordable homes (a total of fifty to seventy units) was rejected in a town vote, 614 to 498. The only post-flood affordable housing actually in the construction phase is at Second Avenue and Park Street where Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley is building six homes (in three duplexes) on land the non-profit purchased at the end of 2016. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @hotmail.com. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns from both Lyons-area newspapers posted on my blog atlyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Appraisal delayed for 19617 N St. Vrain Drive sales agreement

by Amy Reinholds

The appraiser who is working with the Town of Lyons for a possible site that could be sold to the Town of Lyons was delayed in finding “comps” for the parcel, Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen reported to the Board of Trustees on Monday.

Simonsen reported at the March 19 meeting that the appraiser evaluating the 2.13 acres at 19617 N. St. Vrain Drive said it was more complicated and difficult than anticipated to look at comparable sales in the area. He said he will do his best to get the appraisal completed by the end of next week, she said.

The seller said he wouldn’t be able to accept the agreement as currently written, but he was OK with waiting to see the appraisal.

On Feb. 20, the trustees approved a purchase and sale agreement with James D. Van Court for the town to purchase the land at 19617 N. St. Vrain Drive. After an appraisal to determine the purchase price, the next step will be to see if the seller accepts the agreement. The parcel would need to be annexed into the Town of Lyons, and if zoned as R-3, it could contain about up to about 23 units, according to reports at that February meeting.

The 2.13 acres are next to the Baseline-Mocon industrial parcel and near the Eagle Canyon subdivision. If the seller accepts the agreement, and the town decides to move forward, the Town of Lyons could also put out an RFP for affordable housing developers who are interested in partnering with the town for this parcel. According to the agreement, the purchase price will be equivalent to the fair market value as determined by an appraisal. The town will get an appraisal of the property by the end of the month, considering the value of the property both “as-is” and as if it were annexed into the Town of Lyons and connected to town utilities. The sales agreement is on the Town of Lyons website atwww.townoflyons.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/3590?fileID=8168.

In the past two years, the Lyons Board of Trustees has been trying to find land for affordable housing, to not lose $4 million in federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds set aside for Lyons. Other federal funds were lost in 2015 when a proposal for using part of Bohn Park to build subsidized, affordable Boulder County Housing Authority rentals and some Habitat for Humanity for-sale affordable homes (a total of 50-70 units) was rejected in a town vote: 498 Lyons voters supported it, and 614 Lyons voters opposed it. However, with $4 million still reserved for Lyons in the years that followed, the trustees have been pursuing several smaller options for housing.

On March 12, the Lyons Board of Trustees awarded a bid for an affordable housing development in Lyons Valley Park, Filing 8, Tract A to Summit Housing Group and directed town staff to finalize a memorandum of agreement for consideration by the trustees. Summit Housing Group’s proposal included two options, based on applying for and securing different levels of federal tax credits. Depending on whether the group can meet a June 1 deadline for a higher subsidy of federal tax credits for investors, there could either be 42 rentals available for households who earn 50-60 percent of the area median income, or – if the greater subsidy is attained – more of the 42 rentals could be set aside for households who earn 30-50 percent of the area median income.

On Jan. 29, the trustees approved a resolution authorizing a purchase and sale agreement with current owner Keith Bell, which gives the Town of Lyons an option to buy Tract A of Lyons Valley Park Filing 8, already intended for 43 units of multifamily housing. The town signed a joint letter of intent between Bell, president of Lyons Valley Park, Inc., who lives in Kansas, and David Wickum of Wickum Properties and Realty, based in Lyons. It states the Town of Lyons intends to purchase Tract A and work with public and private sectors to replace some of the housing lost in the 2013 flood, and that Wickum intends to purchase Lots 15-32 of Block 2 to develop single-family housing.

If either Wickum or the Town of Lyons discontinues pursuing an intended purchase, Bell and Lyons Valley Park, Inc., will negotiate with the other party for a possible purchase. For example, if Wickum discontinues purchasing the Block 2 lots, the Town of Lyons could negotiate to purchase those as well. A price for all the tracts and lots won’t be negotiated until an appraisal is conducted, per Bell’s request. According to the agreement, Wickum and the Town of Lyons also plan to work in good faith to share infrastructure costs.

A request for proposals (RFP) for affordable housing developers interested in partnering with the town for that Lyons Valley Park Tract A parcel went out on Feb. 2, with a due date of March 5. Then, after a selection committee (including representatives from the Lyons Valley Park homeowners association and the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission) brought forward two finalists, Summit Housing Group was selected on March 12 by the Lyons Board of Trustees.

The Town of Lyons currently has a total of 26 permanently affordable rental homes (already in Lyons before the September 2013 flood): eight apartments at Bloomfield Place near the Stone Cup cafe, 12 apartments at Walter Self Senior Housing near the post office, and six apartments at Mountain Gate on 2nd Ave. The only post-flood affordable housing currently being built is at 2nd Avenue and Park Street where Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley is building six homes (in three duplexes) on land the non-profit purchased at the end of 2016. To volunteer, sign up atwww.stvrainhabitat.org/construction.

The Town of Lyons lost about 76-94 flood-destroyed homes. To get an accurate number of housing stock lost in the September 2013 flood, there are two ways to count. First, according to counts of Town of Lyons water taps/customer accounts, 94 customer accounts were lost after the flood (taking into account the 32 homes in Riverbend Mobile Home Park that were originally part of one water tap). However, some of those customer accounts were on Apple Valley Road (not in town limits), and some lots in town have more than one water tap/customer account. A second way to count is the number of flood-damaged homes in the Town of Lyons lost to both the federal buyout programs and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use), which totals 76 lost residential units. Federal buyouts totaled 44 units – including all residential units in the Foothills Mobile Home Park – and there were also 32 families who lost homes in the Riverbend Mobile Home Park, which was rezoned as a commercial wedding and lodging venue after the flood.

This column is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing after the September 2013 flood disaster in Lyons. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds@hotmail.com. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns from both Lyons-area newspapers posted on my blog atlyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com.

What’s happening with Habitat for Humanity homes in Lyons?

COMMENTARY: AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN LYONS

By Amy ReinholdsAffordable Housing ColumnistRedstone Review

LYONS – The Lyons community can see the rapid construction progress of Habitat for Humanity duplexes on Park Street, east of 2nd Ave. The 6 homes in 3 duplexes will be the first new affordable housing in town since the 2013 flood. David Emerson, Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley, expressed gratitude this past week for all the volunteers.

“We are thrilled to see the houses progress so quickly since volunteers began working on them in January,” Emerson said. On March 9, the construction crew rolled roof trusses on the first duplex and have completely framed a second duplex. The third duplex, in the middle of the other two buildings, is still going through a final permit process, because the homes in that building have a slightly different design (larger, 4-bedroom homes, which will also be accessible for people with disabilities.)

Emerson said that more than 400 volunteers, as many as 35 a day, have worked on the site since the project started with volunteers in late January. He said there are many repeat volunteers, including some retired individuals who return weekly or twice a week. Habitat construction crews with volunteers are currently working 4 days a week: Wednesdays through Saturdays. Volunteers include local Lyons residents and other volunteers from Boulder, an AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps group, and a Habitat for Humanity Collegiate Challenge team of college students, most recently from Widener University near Philadelphia.

The first three applicants for Lyons homes were selected in a previous round in summer 2017, and all are currently working on their volunteering “sweat equity” and educational requirements as they prepare to become homeowners, Emerson said. It’s likely they will be celebrating the 2018 end-of-year holidays in their new homes. In January Habitat for Humanity started the next round of applications with the hope of filling the other three openings.

Emerson highlighted three features that are important to understanding how Habitat for Humanity homeownership works. First, Habitat homes are built at a cost that is the lowest in the area by far. “Our price point is conservatively one third to a half of what it would cost to purchase a home of similar size in the Lyons area,” he said.

Secondly, Emerson said that Habitat for Humanity’s basic mortgage terms are unmatched in their ability to provide an affordable payment: a 30-year mortgage at 0% interest, with little or no down payment. Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley mortgages are usually about $150,000, with no interest, and monthly mortgage payments, including escrow, are set at 27% of the household gross monthly income at the mortgage origination.

Household incomes of applicants eligible to apply to purchase Habitat for Humanity homes range from about $22,200 up to about $61,000 (for a household of 5 that earns 60 percent of the area median income). Based on the 27% of the household gross monthly income formula, a monthly mortgage for the bottom of the eligible income range is about $500, and a monthly mortgage for a household of 5 that earns 60 percent of the area median income is about $1,382.

Also, Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley got approval from the Lyons Board of Trustees last year to raise the upper threshold to 80 percent of the area median income, which is as much as $81,912 for a household of 5 – if the applicants meet all the other criteria. Based on the 27% of the household gross monthly income formula, a monthly mortgage for a household of 5 that earns 80 percent of the area median income is about $1,800.
Of the three applicants already selected, no household earns more than 60 percent of the area median income, Emerson said. As previously described, that means their mortgages, based on family size and specific income, will be lower than $1,300 a month.

Finally, Habitat for Humanity has underwriting criteria (requirements of an applicant to qualify) that are more forgiving than any other mortgage program that they are aware of. However, they are still subject to federal law. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has protections that have strengthened over the years to protect homeowners from predatory lenders. Applicants for mortgages are required to demonstrate they have a required level of income to pay the mortgage and provide documentation to prove it.

“As we get ready to select the last several applicants, there will undoubtedly be good families and individuals in need who are left without one of these homes,” Emerson said. “Some of that has to do with the number of those in need versus the number of houses we are building. The other reason may be that an applicant does not meet our lending qualifications.”

Emerson said that when it comes to requirements, those mortgage underwriting obligations are in place to ensure an appropriate degree of projected success in a homeownership program, and to prevent foreclosures. “This is a requirement of federal law and is not flexible, and this is also a core value of Habitat for Humanity,” he said. “Homeowners assume an affordable mortgage and are held accountable to the obligations of that mortgage so that they can stay in their home and also so their payments can be paid forward to help others in need.”

Documented income and debt are two areas of the requirements that often require the most work for applicants.

The Habitat project is subsidized by a wide variety of sources, and Emerson said that income of homeowners is required to be very accurately accounted for. “There are a variety of ways we do that and that often means a great deal of documentation,” he said. “We do not do this to create a barrier but to be appropriately thorough and good stewards of the community’s resources. Often it takes several different pieces of documentation to create a full and accurate picture. This is an area where Habitat is consistent with what other lenders ask for.”

Emerson said that lending additional credit for a mortgage to applicants with existing loans requires a debt formula for lenders that is very rigid. “Federal housing officials – in particular the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – take a very hard line,” he said “Lenders need to make sure that the amount being paid in a monthly mortgage when combined with the amount of other debt payments is an affordable percentage of an applicant’s income. We use the most liberal of those formulas.” Habitat for Humanity takes what the mortgage payment would be (which is much lower than other mortgages) and adds all other debt. Then they divide those payments by the applicant’s income. If the percentage of these obligations are too high, then it is not appropriate to extend a mortgage.

Emerson described the Habitat for Humanity selection process, which involves dozens of people who are trained and have experience with successful lending practices. Habitat staff work with a selection committee, and then a final decision is made by the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley. The selection committee includes mortgage originators and bankers, and the Board of Directors has a banker, a tax attorney, and realtors to name a few. “Decisions are not made in a vacuum, and we routinely take feedback with the goal of making our program better,” he said.

He encouraged anyone to has questions about the program or requirements to reach out to the Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley office. More information is available at http://www.stvrainhabitat.org.

This column is a monthly commentary (opinion column) in the Redstone Review about affordable housing after the 2013 flood disaster in Lyons. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints, contact me directly at areinholds @ hotmail.com. For history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, see previous columns at lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

After hearing presentations from two groups brought forward by a selection committee at a special meeting March 12, the Lyons Board of Trustees awarded a bid for an affordable housing development in Lyons Valley Park, Filing 8, Tract A to Summit Housing Group and directed town staff to finalize a memorandum of agreement for consideration by the trustees.

Summit Housing Group’s proposal included two options, based on applying for and securing different levels of federal tax credits. Depending on whether the group can meet a June 1 deadline for a higher subsidy of federal tax credits for investors, there could either be 42 rentals available for households who earn 50-60 percent of the area median income, or – if the greater subsidy is attained – more of the 42 rentals could be set aside for households who earn 30-50 percent of the area median income.

The presentation from Rusty Snow of Summit, showed that 60 percent of the area median income means a range of $41,280-$63,660 annual income for a one- to five-person household, and the range of affordable monthly rents for that income, based on household size, starts at $1033-$1532. The presentation showed that 50 percent of the area median income means a range of $34,400-$53,050 annual income for a one- to five-person household, and the range of affordable monthly rents for that income, based on household size, starts at $921-$1276. If the higher subsidy of federal tax credits are awarded, then the balance of rentals could be lowered to be affordable for individuals and family who earn as low as 30 percent of the area median income, which means a range of $20,640-$31,830 annual income for a one- to five-person household, and the range of affordable monthly rents for that income, based on household size, starts at $552-$766.

Snow said that Summit conducted a current market survey of the Lyons area, and found that 50-60 percent of the area median income was the biggest need, but the trustees pointed him to previous data that showed a need for housing affordable to people in 30-50 percent of the area median income, based on the incomes of people who were displaced by the 2013 flood. Summit will pursue the option of more tax credit subsidies to provide more rents affordable to those lower income ranges, and the public will hear more about these options as town staff finalizes a memorandum of agreement with Summit for consideration by the trustees.

Despite flexibility in the ranges of rents and targets for income levels between the two options, the proposal includes a total of 43 homes (one is for the on-site property manager) in 12 buildings that are two stories. The buildings are planned to look like townhomes and include 24 two-bedroom/2 bath, 1200 s.f. homes, 19 three-bedroom/2 bath, 1500 s.f. homes, and total of 100 parking spots (a ratio of 2.32 per home). Apartment amenities include central heat/air, all appliances, washer and dryer in unit, composite finish counter tops, composite flooring, dark wood cabinets, and community amenities include an on-site manager, a community room, exercise center, community garden, and a children’s play area. Snow said the community will be designed to transition from the surrounding single family homes and add to the already established neighborhood, which will be important throughout the Town of Lyons rezoning process.

In contrast to the 12 buildings proposed by Summit, if other developers used the current single-family home zoning, about 25 large single-family homes could be built on the same land, according to Clay Dusel, a Lyons Valley Park resident, and a member of the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission, who spoke at the meeting. An existing example of multifamily buildings in the Lyons Valley Park neighborhood is Lyons Valley Village, a co-housing community.

Summit, based in Missoula, Mt., is a development company that specializes in low-income tax credit and mixed-use developments. It develops and manages rental properties in 6 states, including Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado, all which include portions affordable to people who make 60% of the area median incomes or less. The latest homes in Colorado are at 1205 Pace St. in Longmont.

The federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program is a source of funding that helps developers build rental homes at lower cost. A deadline for a higher subsidy of tax credits to cover 70 percent of the units in a project (also referred to as “9 percent tax credits”) is approaching June 1. The 30 percent subsidy (also referred to as the automatic “4 percent tax credits”) has more flexible deadlines, and more options to apply, but it only covers 30 percent of the rentals in a development, and the affordable housing developers must find other sources of funding to make the project work, such as the $4 million in federal disaster recovery block grant funds available for affordable housing in the Town of Lyons.

The LIHTC gives investors a reduction in their federal tax liability for every dollar they invest in financing to develop affordable rental housing. The investors’ equity contribution subsidizes the development, allowing housing units to rent at below-market rates. For details about LIHTC, seewww.chfainfo.com/arh/lihtc/overview.

On Jan. 29, the trustees approved a resolution authorizing a purchase and sale agreement with current owner Keith Bell, which gives the Town of Lyons an option to buy Tract A of Lyons Valley Park Filing 8, already intended for 43 units of multifamily housing. The town signed a joint letter of intent between Bell, president of Lyons Valley Park, Inc., who lives in Kansas, and David Wickum of Wickum Properties and Realty, based in Lyons. It states the Town of Lyons intends to purchase Tract A and work with public and private sectors to replace some of the housing lost in the 2013 flood, and that Wickum intends to purchase Lots 15-32 of Block 2 to develop single-family housing.

If either Wickum or the Town of Lyons discontinues pursuing an intended purchase, Bell and Lyons Valley Park, Inc., will negotiate with the other party for a possible purchase. For example, if Wickum discontinues purchasing the Block 2 lots, the Town of Lyons could negotiate to purchase those as well. A price for all the tracts and lots won’t be negotiated until an appraisal is conducted, per Bell’s request. According to the agreement, Wickum and the Town of Lyons also plan to work in good faith to share infrastructure costs.

A request for proposals (RFP) for affordable housing developers interested in partnering with the town for the Tract A parcel went out on Feb. 2, with a due date of March 5. A selection committee, including representatives from the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) and the Lyons Valley Park Homeowners Association, met March 8 to interview four formal proposals that were submitted, and they brought forward two proposals to the special Board of Trustees meeting on March 12.

Although Tract A of Lyons Valley Park Filing 8 is already intended for 43 units of multifamily housing, trustees and staff discussed with Summit how rezoning was expected to be required for Summit’s proposal, which will go through multiple meetings with the PCDC and the Board of Trustees, all which include public input.

In the past two years, the Board of Trustees has been trying to find land for affordable housing, to not lose $4 million in federal Community Development Block Grants – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds set aside for Lyons. Lyons can receive $40,000 in CDBG-DR funds per each new affordable housing unit (up to $4 million total for new affordable housing in town). Other federal funds were lost in 2015 when a proposal for using part of Bohn Park to build subsidized, affordable Boulder County Housing Authority rentals and some Habitat for Humanity for-sale affordable homes (a total of 50-70 units) was rejected in a town vote: 498 Lyons voters supported it, and 614 Lyons voters opposed it. However, with $4 million still reserved for Lyons in the years that followed, the trustees have been pursuing several smaller options for housing.

To get an accurate number of housing stock lost in the September 2013 flood, there are two ways to count. First, according to counts of Town of Lyons water taps/customer accounts, 94 customer accounts were lost after the flood (taking into account the 32 homes in Riverbend Mobile Home Park that were originally part of one water tap). However, some of those customer accounts were on Apple Valley Road (not in town limits), and some lots in town have more than one water tap/customer account. A second way to count is the number of flood-damaged homes in the Town of Lyons lost to both the federal buyout programs and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use), which totals 76 lost residential units. Federal buyouts totaled 44 units – including all residential units in the Foothills Mobile Home Park – and there were also 32 families who lost homes in the Riverbend Mobile Home Park, which was rezoned as a commercial wedding and lodging venue after the flood.

If you are wondering how new affordable rentals will affect the Town of Lyons, you can look at the current total of 26 permanently affordable rentals, which have been in Lyons years before the September 2013 flood: eight apartments at Bloomfield Place near the Stone Cup cafe, 12 apartments at Walter Self Senior Housing near the post office, and six apartments at Mountain Gate on 2nd Ave. I have lived in a neighborhood near Bloomfield Place for 14 years and now am moving to the neighborhood near Mountain Gate, and I periodically attend senior lunches and birthday celebrations at the Walter Self Center community room. I have had only positive interactions with neighbors who rent these homes at Bloomfield Place, Mountain Gate, and Walter Self. These affordable rentals fit right into the existing neighborhoods, and no one notices differences between these rentals and the surrounding homes that are rented or owned. Most people do not know these buildings are subsidized Boulder County Housing Authority rentals. The individuals and families who live in these homes in Lyons are our neighbors.

The only in-progress post-flood affordable housing is at 2nd Avenue and Park Street where Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley is building six for-sale homes (in three duplexes) on land the non-profit purchased at the end of 2016. To volunteer on these new homes, sign up atwww.stvrainhabitat.org/construction.

This column is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing after the September 2013 flood disaster in Lyons. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @ hotmail.com. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns from both Lyons-area newspapers posted on my blog atlyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Trustees get updates on two housing issues: Lyons Valley Park proposals and options for tiny homes as ADUs

by Amy Reinholds

The March 5 Lyons Board of Trustees meeting included updates on both the proposals for affordable housing on Tract A of Lyons Valley Park Filing 8 and the concept of tiny homes on wheels as market-rate accessory dwelling units.

Town Administrator Victoria Simonsen reported at the March 5 meeting about the request for proposals (RFP) process for affordable housing developers who are interested in partnering with the Town of Lyons on the parcel in Lyons Valley Park that is previously intended for market-rate multi-family housing. Simonsen said that four complete proposals were received by the March 5 deadline, and a selection committee will be interviewing the applicants this Thursday.

A special Board of Trustees meeting is scheduled for next week. On Monday, March 12, at 5:30 p.m., the selection committee will bring forward proposals, and the trustees will have a chance to interview candidates and direct next steps. The public can also attend this meeting to learn more about proposals for affordable homes for renters who earn less than the area median income. Proposals will include more details about numbers of homes and what levels of income they are affordable for. The workshop discussion starts at 5:30 p.m., and the special meeting of the Board of Trustees, where they can vote on specific actions, begins at 7 p.m. at Lyons Town Hall.

The selection committee includes representatives from the Lyons Valley Park Homeowner’s Association, the Lyons Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC), and the State of Colorado Division of Housing, as well as Simonsen, Lyons Director of Community Development Paul Glasgow, and David Wickum, the market-rate developer who also has an option to buy land from Keith Bell in that area of the Lyons Valley Park neighborhood.

At the end of January, the Lyons Board of Trustees approved a resolution authorizing a purchase and sale agreement that gives the Town of Lyons an option to buy Tract A of Lyons Valley Park Filing 8, already intended for 43 multifamily units. Instead of just market-rate multifamily housing sometime in the future, the Town of Lyons might be able to leverage federal Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) disaster recovery funds to purchase Tract A of Lyons Valley Park Filing 8 and partner with an affordable housing developer to build homes that are affordable to households that earn 60 percent of the area-median income or less.

In the past year and half, the Lyons Board of Trustees has been trying to find land for affordable housing, to not lose $4 million in federal CDBG funds set aside for Lyons. Lyons can receive a maximum of $40,000 in CDBG-DR funds per each new affordable housing unit (up to $4 million total if a maximum of 100 new affordable housing units are built somewhere in town). Lyons could be close to getting that full funding, if all proposed projects happen. The Lyons Valley Park Tract A allows 43 multifamily units. On the eastern corridor of Lyons, a partnership has submitted a proposal to purchase town-owned land that includes 45 affordable homes built and managed by Thistle, a community non-profit, although the trustees are still requesting more information on that proposal.

The town signed a joint letter of intent between Keith Bell, president of Lyons Valley Park, Inc., who lives in Kansas, and Wickum Properties and Realty, authorized by the trustees on Jan. 29. It states the Town of Lyons intends to purchase Tract A and work with public and private sectors to replace some of the housing lost in the 2013 flood, and that Wickum intends to purchase Lots 15-32 of Block 2 to develop single-family housing.

If either Wickum or the Town of Lyons discontinues pursuing an intended purchase, Bell and Lyons Valley Park, Inc., will negotiate with the other party for a possible purchase. For example, if Wickum discontinues purchasing the Block 2 lots, the Town of Lyons could negotiate to purchase those as well. A price for all the tracts and lots won’t be negotiated until an appraisal is conducted, per Bell’s request. According to the agreement, Wickum and the Town of Lyons also plan to work in good faith to share infrastructure costs.

Also on March 5, the trustees heard a workshop presentation about tiny homes on wheels from the PCDC commissioners Gregg Oetting and Mark Browning, with Glasgow (town planner and liaison to the PCDC). The presentation started broadly but then narrowed down to the focus of whether tiny homes on wheels could fit in to the Town of Lyons accessory dwelling unit ordinance. Later, during the regular part of the meeting, the trustees discussed possible direction with Oetting, Browning, and Glasgow, directing the PCDC and town staff to continue research in how tiny homes on wheels could be accessory dwelling units on Town of Lyons residential lots, if they were connected to all Town of Lyons utilities, and looked like houses, not recreation vehicles (RVs).

A process for adding accessory dwelling units (ADUs), small carriage houses, mother-in-law apartments, or garage apartments to single family home residential lots has been shaped in the Town of Lyons during the past few years, aiming to encourage more rentals in town at lower costs because of the size, but still market rate. So far, three homeowners had plans approved by the town to build legal ADUs in 2017, and Glasgow said that four other homeowners are currently in the process for bringing forth conditional use reviews, which will start with PCDC public hearings.

The Lyons ADU ordinance allows small apartments or carriage houses to share utility connection fees with the main house (saving homeowners $20,000-$40,000 in construction costs). You can read the ordinance athttp://www.townoflyons.com/566/Accessory-Dwelling-Units. Homeowners of ADU properties must rent for periods of 30 days or longer (for example, at least a month-to-month lease), and cannot use their properties for short-term vacation rentals.

Mayor Connie Sullivan says she hears some homeowners say they’d like to try building ADUs on their single family home lots in Lyons, but they don’t want to spend $75,000 on constructing an ADU, and she wanted to know if allowing tiny homes on wheels as ADUs could be keep the building costs down. It wasn’t clear the costs of purchasing tiny homes on wheels (which can be costly) and connecting them to utilities would keep costs much lower. More research is needed.

Trustee Barney Dreistadt asked what can be done under current ADU policy – if a homeowner can bring in a modular home constructed off-site, as long as it fits in the size requirements. The answer is yes, as long as it meets the size requirements of the Lyons ADU ordinance (dependent on size of the main house, but no larger than 800 square feet). And most importantly, modular homes, which arrive to the site in pieces and are constructed on residential lots, meet the International Residential Code (IRC) that building inspection companies like Town of Lyons contracting company Charles Abbott Associates use.

The PCDC commissioners described the difference between houses that are small and the term tiny homes. “Tiny homes” describes a trend that started in the early 2000s of small constructed homes that are on built on a trailer frame with axles and wheels, registered like RVs. These tiny homes on wheels, which have a vehicle license like RVs, don’t fit into either the IRC that building inspection companies use or the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards for manufactured housing (mobile homes). There is a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1192 Standard on Recreational Vehicles, which currently applies to any RV, but it is not intended for homes people live in year-round in municipal neighborhoods.

The tiny home industry is working on standards that are more stringent than the RV standards, but nothing has been established nationwide yet that standard building inspection companies work with. PCDC commissioner Browning said that work would probably take 2-5 years. Byron Fears of SimBLISSity Tiny Homes, told the trustees several times that he builds homes at a higher quality than both RV and mobile home standards. But each time, PCDC commissioners and town staff asked him to clarify if he knew the standards of other tiny home builders other than his own company. He could only speak for his own company, illustrating the problem if there are no building standards like IRC that currently apply to tiny homes.

If Lyons does arrive at its own building code standards for tiny homes, issues remain, such as finding manufacturers who will follow those standards, and getting an inspection process in place. The town’s current inspectors aren’t trained in tiny homes and don’t want to inspect anything that is not using the IRC standards.

The PCDC also brought up where ADUs – and tiny home ADUs if included in the ordinance – will go in the Town of Lyons. They will not be in the subdivisions with homeowners associations that will restrict ADUs. Instead, it will be in the old town residential neighborhoods that don’t have homeowners associations. The PCDC commissioners asked the trustees how much they wanted the people in those neighborhoods to take on the housing needs of the whole town with this new initiative.

Glasgow and the PCDC left the meeting with direction to keep investigating particular issues of building inspection standards and taxes, and what it would take to have tiny homes on wheels as ADUs in addition to stick-built or modular small houses as ADUs. Based on what the trustees said, we know the Town of Lyons won’t allow ADUs to include property owners building an RV pad in backyards for tiny home owners to pull into residential backyards like an RV park. We know the Town of Lyons will require these homes like all ADUs to be attached to all Town of Lyons utilities. We also know the trustees expressed they want a reasonable maximum occupancy so that large families are not jammed into small homes or that a group of singles with a least one car each aren’t camping out in backyards and clogging parking in neighborhoods.

Finally, town staff, PCDC commissioners, and trustees weren’t sure if tiny homes on wheels as ADUs would really be a lower-cost option for rentals. “Are we really creating a cheaper housing option? That’s not clear,” Glasgow said.

Trustee Dan Greenberg said “One of the reasons we tackled ADUs in the first place was for lower-cost rentals (although still market-rate). If we just end up with something that causes expensive rentals, it’s not meeting that.” He said the PCDC should keep the low-cost goal in the forefront of continuing discussions.

This column is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing after the September 2013 flood disaster in Lyons. If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @ hotmail.com. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns from both Lyons-area newspapers posted on my blog at lyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com.

COMMENTARY: What’s the future of affordable housing in Lyons?

Tiny homes on wheels as ADUs still on Planning Commission’s discussion list

by Amy Reinholds

A process for adding accessory dwelling units (ADUs), small carriage houses, mother-in-law apartments, or garage apartments to single family home residential lots has been shaped in the Town of Lyons during the past few years, aiming to encourage more rentals in town at lower costs because of the size, but still market rate. So far, three homeowners had plans approved by the town to build legal ADUs. In 2017, both the Planning and Community Development Commission (PCDC) and the Board of Trustees approved conditional use review plans for a garage apartment at 427 Stickney Street, a garage apartment at 327 Seward Street, and a separate 600 square-foot one bedroom apartment at 600 Indian Lookout Road, currently an undeveloped parcel where a new home will also be built.

The Lyons ADU ordinance allows small apartments or carriage houses to share utility connection fees with the main house (saving homeowners $20,000-$40,000 in construction costs). You can read the ordinance atwww.townoflyons.com/566/Accessory-Dwelling-Units. Homeowners of ADU properties must rent for periods of 30 days or longer (for example, at least a month-to-month lease), and cannot use their properties for short-term vacation rentals.

One aspect of the ADU approach that Mayor Connie Sullivan and the Lyons Board of Trustees asked the PCDC to look at more than a year ago is still on the commission’s plate: whether tiny homes on wheels could be included in the ADU policy and allowed as permanent structures like stick-built buildings. At their Jan. 26 meeting, the PCDC commissioners talked about preparing a report to deliver at an upcoming meeting with the trustees, describing the remaining issues and open questions for the trustees about the direction that that the town should take.

The trustees had directed the PCDC to see how tiny homes (either put on foundations, or used like recreation vehicles) could work as ADUs. However, the PCDC and Town Staff had separated tiny homes as a distinct issue from ADUs because of difficulties with inspection and standards (tiny homes on wheels do not currently have standards for residential inspection like stock-built homes or mobile homes/manufactured housing do).

The term “tiny homes” describes a trend that started in the early 2000s of small constructed homes that are on built on a trailer frame with axles and wheels, registered like recreation vehicles (RVs). These tiny homes on wheels, which have a vehicle license like RVs, don’t fit into the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) standards for manufactured housing (mobile homes), the International Residential Code (IRC) that building inspection companies like Town of Lyons contracting company Charles Abbott Associates use, or the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1192 Standard on Recreational Vehicles, which currently applies to any RV but is not intended for year-round living.

The Town of Lyons doesn’t have a history of writing its own building codes. Also, even if Lyons does arrive at its own building code standards for tiny homes, issues remain, such as finding manufacturers who will follow those standards, and getting an inspection process in place. The town’s current inspectors don’t want to inspect anything that is not using the IRC standards.

Previous discussions with PCDC commissioners last year included suggestions that if tiny homes on wheels were allowed as ADUs, there could be a recommendation to the Board of Trustees that a limited number be allowed in town, or that a landowner could have a limited time to have such an ADU, such as 3-5 years. This would allow the town to evaluate if there are any issues with tiny homes as ADUs. The PCDC has also discussed that even though tiny homes are classified as RVs, they would have to meet design standards that they look like a stick-built homes if they were to be used as ADUs.

As of the Feb. 26 PCDC meeting, there is not consensus among the PCDC commissioners about whether the best way to include tiny homes on wheels as ADUs is to require them to be on foundations and hooked up to all town utilities, or as RVs “off-the-grid.” Commissioners have not made a decision on what option is the best way to help homeowners save money, therefore encouraging more ADUs as rentals in town, what option is the best for neighborhoods and overall for the town of Lyons. However, in the next month, the commission, with Lyons Director of Community Development Paul Glasgow, plans to compile all issues in a presentation for the trustees (expected at a trustees meeting this spring).

This column is a weekly commentary (opinion column) in the Lyons Recorder about affordable housing after the September 2013 flood disaster in Lyons. To get an accurate number of housing stock lost in the September 2013 flood, there are two ways to count. First, according to counts of Town of Lyons water taps/customer accounts, 94 customer accounts were lost after the flood (taking into account the 32 homes in Riverbend Mobile Home Park that were originally part of one water tap). However, some of those customer accounts were on Apple Valley Road (not in town limits), and some lots in town have more than one water tap/customer account. A second way to count is the number of flood-damaged homes in the Town of Lyons lost to both the federal buyout programs and to the changed use of the Riverbend Mobile Home Park property to an event venue (rezoned for commercial use), which totals 76 lost residential units. Federal buyouts totaled 44 units – including all residential units in the Foothills Mobile Home Park – and there were also 32 families who lost homes in the Riverbend Mobile Home Park, which was rezoned as a commercial wedding and lodging venue after the flood.

If you have any questions, comments, or complaints about this column, please contact me directly at areinholds @ hotmail.com. For a history of post-flood efforts for affordable housing in Lyons, you can read previous columns from both Lyons-area newspapers posted on my blog atlyonscoloradonews.wordpress.com.

Editor/Author of this blog

Amy Reinholds served on the Housing Recovery Task Force in Lyons, Colo., from December 2013 through its end in February 2015. She is currently a member of the Lyons Human Services and Aging Commission and served as a liaison to the Special Housing Committee during its existence from April 2015-April 2016. She has lived in Lyons since 2003 and in the surrounding Lyons area since 1995.